2008 Alumni Awards

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The 2008 Alumni Awards were presented at the Honors and Awards Banquet in the spring, and six mechanical engineering alumni were recognized. A committee of alumni, faculty members, and members of the department's External Advisory Board selected alumni for these awards.

The 2008 Thomas French Achievement Award was presented to Srinivas Garimella. Garimella is a professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where his research focuses on sustainable energy systems and he is the director of the Sustainable Thermal Systems Lab. Garimella also serves as the chair for the Advanced Energy Systems Division of ASME. He received an Early Career Development Award from the National Science Foundation in 1999.

Richard Fosdick was presented the 2008 Ralph Boyer Young Achiever Award for his achievements at Moog Inc. where he moved from development engineer to project engineer and ultimately became senior project engineer in just eight years. As a result of his work with the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the F-35 is the first aircraft to employ all electrically powered flight controls as opposed to traditional hydraulic controls. Fosdick became a principal engineer at Moog Inc. in 2007 and continues to make contributions in the field of new product development.

The 2008 Marion Smith Service Award was presented to Dale Andreatta who has given generously of his time to the students of the Department of Mechanical Engineering. He contributed time and engineering expertise to a group of students who developed water purification and cooking devices that will improve the quality of life for those living in developing countries, as senior design projects. Andreatta is employed by SEA Ltd. in Columbus, Ohio, where he performs vehicle accident reconstruction and vehicle component analysis. He is a registered professional engineer in Ohio.

Richard Navarro received the 2008 E.G. Bailey Entrepreneurship Award to recognize his work with spinal disc implants. Navarro is vice-president and co-founder of Theken Disc, a manufacturer of revolutionary disc implants, and has overseen development of the company's eDiscTM - a disc that simulates the nonlinear elasticity of a natural disc. He also holds 11 patents, most of which are related to medical applications.

The 2008 Alan Gregory Loofburrow Business Achievement Award was presented to Richard Peters, chief engineer at Timken Aerospace. At Timken Aerospace, he has the responsibility to manage and direct the activities of the aftermarket division. Peters is a registered engineer in the state of Ohio and is an active member of the Canton Joint Engineering Council, the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, and National Engineers Week.

William Watkins was presented the 2008 Charles Kettering Lifetime Achievement Award and recognized as an alumnus who has distinguished himself over his lifetime. Watkins started his career with Lockheed Aircraft Corp. as a test engineer and worked for 15 years in the aerospace and military design sectors with Lockheed, Marquardt Corp. and Honeywell. In 1966 he began working for Walt Disney and ultimately became chief engineer at the company, where he designed, developed and tested ride systems including Space Mountain and Big Thunder.

Watkins has since started his own company, Ride and Show Engineering Inc. and continues to work with Disney as well as Universal Studios in California and Florida. He is a registered professional engineer in Ohio, California and Florida - and serves as a valuable resource expert to a new theme park engineering student group at Ohio State.

Category: Alumni